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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 
CHILDREN'S BUREAU 

WASHINGTON 



STUDIES OF USE OF MILK BY FAMILIES HAVING LITTLE CHILDREN. 



l%~Zt ' 'O i. 



BALTIMORE. 



That babies and little children are directly affected by the decreased sales of milk 
reported by dealers in American cities? is illustrated by findings for Baltimore compiled 
by the Children's Bureau of the U. S. Department of Labor. 

Of 756 Baltimore children between 2 and 7 years of age, only 29 per cent are now 
having fresh milk to drink, as against 60 per cent a year ago. And only 20, or less 
than 3 per cent of the children studied, are having as much as 3 cup^ a day. 

With the babies under 2, the Children's Bureau says the situation is a little less 
serious. Apparently their needs are more generally understood than the needs of the 
child over 2. Six in every 10 of the young babies are being nursed by their mothers 
(although a great majority of these nursing mothers are themselves drinking no milk 
at all, and only 3 per cent of them are drinking the daily pint and a half which physi- 
cians recommend). Of 108 babies under 2 who are not being nursed, 73, or 68 per 
cent, are having some fresh milk to drink every day. In other words, relatively more 
than twice as many of the babies as of the children over 2 are being provided with 
fresh cows' milk to drink. 

A few children — 7 per cent of those over 2 and 14 per cent of the babies — are not 
drinking milk, but are having some fresh milk in other foods. However, the total 
amount of fresh milk tbey are having in any form is small. The average quantity 
purchased last year for all purposes by the families who had some milk every day 
was Irg- quarts. This daily average has now been reduced to less than a quart. 

The number of familes who are buying no fresh milk at all has risen from 37 a year 
ago to 107, or 29 per cent of those from whom information was secured, and these 107 
families include one-fourth of all the children under 7. At the same time the total 
daily purchase of canned milk by the families studied has increased from 25.5 cans 
to 84 cans. 

Most serious, according to the Children's Bureau, is the general substitution in 
the children's diet of tea and coffee. For 64 per cent of the 575 children who are 
not drinking milk, tea and coffee have been definitely substituted ; and 24 per cent 
of these children are "sharing the family diet" which may or may not include tea or 
coffee, or milk in other foods. 

• While the group of families studied is small, the bureau offers the findings as fairly 
representative, since the information was secured and transmitted to the Children's 
Bureau by school nurses of the Baltimore Department of Health and by nurses of 
the Instructive Yisiting Nurse Association and the Babies' Milk Fund of Baltimore 
from all families they visited during a certain short period, provided (1) there were 
at least two children under 7 years of age; (2) the family had been in Baltimore at 
least a year; and (3) no tubercular patient was living with the family. 

Various incomes are reported: Thirty -nine families report earnings of less than $11 a 
week, and 45 report earnings of more than $20 a week; 172, or 47.1 percent, are earning 
$11 to $15 ; 100, or 27.4 per cent, are earning $16 to $20; for 9 families the weekly earnings 
are not stated. But the changes in the amount of milk purchased are not unlike in 
the different earnings groups. Even of the poorest families a few have increased 
their purchase of fresh milk since last year, and even in the highest income group 50 
per cent have now ceased buying milk or have decreased the daily amount. Some 
mothers seem to realize that milk must be provided for their children at whatever 
sacrifice; others who can better afford to buy milk do not understand its importance 
and let the children go without it. 

52963—18 

Co/lecfecf set. 



4 



STUDIES OP USE OF MILK. 



1& 
ty 



Analysis of the families by nativity and race of the mother shows that the distribu- 
tion of families among those who are buying less milk than formerly, or no milk at all, 
and those who are buying at least as much as they bought last year is approximately 
the same among the colored families and the native white families, in spite of the 
markedly lower incomes in the colored group. On the other hand, the foreign-born 
mothers, although their incomes are slightly lower than the incomes of the native 
white mothers, have more generally than any other group continued to buy milk. 
Almost half of the foreign-born mothers have either continued the amount purchased 
last year or increased it, and only 1 in 10 of the foreign mothers (as against 1 in 3 of the 
other mothers) is now buying no milk at all. The Children's Bureau states: 

"Taking a pint and a half of fresh milk as the desirable daily allowance for 
the average child, these 756 children were having last year on an average only 
40 per cent of what they should have had; this year their daily average has 
dwindled to 14.4 per cent of this allowance. 

"Some varieties of canned milk can be used for feeding babies and young 
children where fresh milk is not obtainable and are far better than infant foods 
that contain no milk. But sweetened condensed milk has the great disadvan- 
tage of a very high sugar content and is not suitable for continued and exclusive 
use in the feeding of babies. The question of the relative value of different 
forms of canned milk is discussed at length in the Children's Bureau bulletin 
on Milk, the Indispensable Food for Children. 

"The work of Children's Year should emphasize in every community the 
importance of fresh milk in the diet of young children. Without proper nourish- 
ment children can not keep well and free from physical defects, and a cam- 
paign of education on the feeding of children is an essential part of the saving 
of 100,000 lives during the second year of the war." 

Children and Adults in Families Studied. 

Total number of families studied 365 

Total persons in families studied 2, 456 

16 years of age and over 890 

8 years of age but under 16 530 

2 years of age but under 8 756 

Under 2 years 280 

Total daily consumption of fresh milk by all families studied, 1917 and 1918. 





1917 


1918 




Quarts daily. 
23 
328.6 
45.5 


Quarts daily. 
9.5 




240.3 












397.0 


249. a 



Of the 365 families studied, 37 in 1917 and 107 in 1918 bought no fresh milk. 

Comparison of average daily consumption of fresh milk by 756 children 2 to 7 years of 
age to recommended daily allowance of 1\ pints for each child. 









Recommended 
daily allow- 
ance (cups). 


Actual consumption. 




Cups. 


Percentage of 

recommended 

allowance. 


Last year (1917) 


2,268 

2,268 


927.3 
329.4 


40.9 


This year (1918) 


14.5 








0. 
SEP 


Of 


1918 







STUDIES OF USE OF MILK. 



Distribution of families according to change in amount and use of fresh milk, 1917 to 1918. 

Total number of families studied 365 

Families buying same as last year 121 

No milk either year 31 

Some milk both years 90 

Families buying more than last year 40 

No milk last year 6 

Some milk both years 34 

Families buying less milk than last year 204 

Decrease of less than 25 per cent 1 

25 per cent but less than 50 33 

50 per cent but less than 75 86 

75 per cent but less than 100 8 

100 per cent (no milk this year) 76 

Number and per cent distribution of families with mothers of specified nativity and race, 
according to use of fresh milk and change in amount consumed, 1917 to 1918. 



All families. 



Num- 
ber. 



Per 
cent. 



Nativity and race of mother. 



Native white. 



Num-I Per 
ber. ! cent. 



Foreign white, 



Num- 
ber. 



Per 

cent. 



Colored. 



Num- 
ber. 



Per 
cent. 



Total families 

Purchasing no milk: 

Both years 

This year only 

Purchasing some milk this year: 

Less than last year 

Same as last year 

More than last year 



365 

31 
76 

128 
90 
40 



8.5 
20.8 

35.1 
24.7 
11.0 



168 100.0 



18 10.7 
45 1 26.8 



30.4 50 
22.6 [ 34 

9.5 18 



3.5 
7.0 

43.9 
29.8 
15.8 



S3 



100.0 

10.8 
27.7 

32.5 
21.7 
7.2 



Number and per cent distribution of families having specified income according to use of 
fresh milk and change in amount consumed, 1917 to 1918. 





All 


Families with weekly income of— 




families. 


$10 or less. 


$11 to $15. 


$16 to $20. 


$21 and over. 


No report. 




Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Total families 


365 


100.0 


39 


100.0 


172 


100.0 


100 


100.0 


45 


100.0 


9 


100.0 


Purchasing no milk: 


31 

76 

128 
90 
40 


8.5 
20.8 

35.1 
24.7 
11.0 


2 

7 

V14 
13 
3 


5.1 

17.9 

36.0 

33.3 

7.7 


20 
41 

57 
38 
16 


11.6 

23.8 

33.1 

22.1 

9.3 


8 
18 

42 
20 
12 


8.0 
18.0 

42.0 
20.0 
12.0 






1 
1 

1 
5 
1 


11.1 


This year only ., 

Purchasing some milk this 
year: 
Less than last year 

More than last year 


9 

14 
14 

8 


20.0 

31.1 
31.1 
17.8 


11.1 

11.1 

55.6 
11.1 



4 STUDIES OF USB OF MILK. 

Number and per cent distribution of children 2 to 7 years of age by average daily consump- 
tion of fresh milk, 1917 and 1918. 



1917 



Number. Per cent. 



1918 



Number. Per cent. 



All children 

Drinking fresh milk 

Less than 1 cup 

1 cup but less than 3 

3 cups or more 

Having no fresh cows' milk to drink a 
Breast fed 



756 
443 

35 
317 

91 
302 

11 



100.0 
58.5 
4.6 
41.9 
12.0 
39.9 
1.5 



756 
216 

30 
166 

20 
540 



100.0 
28.6 
4.0 
22.0 
2.6 
71.4 



a It is possible that some of the 17 children now 2 years of age who are included in the 302 having no cows' 
milk last year may have been breast fed, since no specific question was asked about breast feeding in 1917. 

Daily consumption, 1918, of fresh milk by children under 2 years not breastfed. 



Total children 

Drinking fresh milk 

Less than 1 cup 

1 cup but less than 3 

3 cups or more 

Having fresh milk only in other foods 
Having no fresh milk 




Per cent. 

100.0 
67.6 
1.9 
36.1 
29.6 
13.9 
18.5 



Children 7 years and younger receiving no fresh milk {breast-fed babies excluded). 




Per cent. 



All children 

Having milk in other foods 

Having tea and coffee 

Having family diet 



100.0 
12.0 
64.3 
23.7 



c 



